This story appears on SLAM Presents USA Basketball. Buy now!
They were photographed hamming it up while showing off their medals. They beamed with pride as the National Anthem was played. And some of them even cried.
Then they reflected on what they had accomplished: a seventh straight Olympic gold medal and the kind of rare dynastic run that makes them one of the most legendary teams in basketball history. The only outfit with more consecutive championships is the Boston Celtics, who won eight straight NBA crowns from 1959-66. But since Bill Russell and his friends weren’t taking on the world, an argument can be made that the US Women’s National Team is the most dominant hoops team ever.
The victory over Japan at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics clinched the gold and extended the USA’s winning streak to a remarkable 55 games. There were no hiccups or no-nighters. The team acted like threshers, tearing through every opponent and maintaining a rare focus that produced legendary results.
“Our continued success comes from the sacrifice of our players,” said 2021 head coach Dawn Staley, who played on three of the seven winning teams. “We always have the best of the best.”
That makes Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi the best of the best. They won their fifth gold medal in Tokyo and provided the kind of veteran leadership that has been a hallmark of the women’s team throughout this series. Sylvia Fowles earned her fourth gold with the win. Of the three, only Taurasi is participating in this year’s games.
“It is a great honor and pride to wear this jersey,” Taurasi said. “I hope the next generation feels the same pride, the same respect, the same responsibility to make sure they come out here and play the right way. There is no such thing. There’s nothing like playing in the Olympics… When you put that USA on your chest, you’re playing for everyone who loves basketball in our country and that responsibility that falls on us. It’s probably something we won’t miss.”
Although women’s basketball did not become an Olympic sport until 1976, the relationship between USA Basketball and the nation’s top female players began much earlier. US teams have competed in the World Cup/Cup and Pan American Games since the 1950s. The women’s game has been an important and huge part of USA basketball’s success, and the continued success and dominance of USA teams shows just how strong the sport is in this country.
American women have won nine Olympic gold medals and 11 World Cup titles. They have featured the best players in the country and some of the most legendary coaches. During its 50 years of existence, USA Basketball has strived to become the benchmark of the sport around the world, and thanks to the success of its women’s teams, that goal has become a reality.
“This doesn’t just happen overnight,” Taurasi said after the gold medal match in Tokyo. “This is a process that takes place over the years.”
EARLY DAYS
For many, their first glimpse of women’s basketball was at an Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) college game or the first time the International Olympic Committee allowed women’s basketball competition. But USA women’s basketball goes back much further than that. In 1926, AAU began hosting national championship tournaments, and 27 years later, the USA won its first title in Santiago, Chile.
Captained by Catherine Washington, the 1953 team consisted of seven members of the Nashville Business College team, one future member and one other player, and it defeated host Chile, 49-36, in the finals. Washington excelled again four years later when the USA went to Rio with a 6-0 record and a second straight title. A 51-48 victory over the Soviet Union in the final game clinched the gold.
It would be the last victory of the USA team against the USSR for a long time. The Soviets won the next four world tournaments to go a perfect 23-0. When the teams met in the first women’s Olympic competition, at the 1976 Montreal Games, the USSR defeated Team USA 112-77 in the group stage. After that, various circumstances kept the teams apart. The USSR did not participate in the World Cup held in Seoul in 1979, because the nation did not have diplomatic relations with South Korea.
The United States boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics, which meant that the teams met at the ’83 World Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil for the first time in seven years. The result was a crushing 84-82 loss for the Americans in the gold medal game.
But that was for any level of American frustration. Big things were ahead, and the US women were about to show the world how the sport is played.
A STEP FORWARD
When Team USA arrived in Montreal in ’76 for the first Olympics to include women’s competition, they found a two-bedroom apartment waiting for them. That meant the 12 players had to squeeze into bunk beds and avoid tripping over each other. Those humble beginnings helped create a strong backbone that propelled U.S. teams into international play.
The Soviet Union boycotted the ’84 Los Angeles Games, but the talented US team that won gold featured the likes of Cheryl Miller and Lynette Woodard and was coached by the legendary Pat Summitt. While the absence of the USSR led many to debate whether the Americans could beat their main rivals, the Seoul ’88 Olympics answered any questions.
The USA won the gold and beat the Soviets 102-88 in the semifinals. The trio of Katrina McClain, Theresa Edwards and Cynthia Cooper led the team and made the Americans practically invincible. That was not the case four years later in Barcelona. While the men’s Dream Team cruised their way to gold, the women could only manage a bronze medal thanks to a semi-final loss to the Unified Team, as the former Soviet Union was then known. It will be the last time the women’s team will stand on anything other than the top tier of the grandstand. Starting from Atlanta, USA became unstoppable.
The ’96 women’s team was a perfect 8-0 and no team trailed by 15 points. Led by coach Tara VanDerver, USA featured a deep, versatile team with Lisa Leslie, who averaged 19.5 ppg, McClain, Cheryl Swoopes and Ruthie Brown. The team shot 71.9 percent from the field in the first half in its 111-87 loss to Brazil in the Gold Medal game. Simply put, the Brazilians had no chance.
As the rest of the world found out over the next six Olympiads, no one did.
TOTAL SUPREME
The numbers at the 2000 Olympics were extremely impressive. First, USA was 8-0 in the tournament and outscored its opponents by 21.7 ppg. Yes, the team was a fleet offensively, outscoring the likes of New Zealand by 50 points and shooting an average of 50.8 percent from the field, but it also stifled its opponents, holding them to 37.7 percent shooting. Leslie and Swoope led the way again, with Yolanda Griffith providing another strong offensive option. One of the biggest stories was Theresa Edwards’ decision to retire from international play after setting the record for points scored by an American player in all events and five different Olympics.
When Team USA traveled to Greece for the ’04 Games, things weren’t easy, but that didn’t mean the Americans didn’t win. Their first six contests didn’t cause too much stress, although the 71-58 win over Spain had some worrying moments. Beating Russia 66-62 in the semifinals wasn’t easy, and the U.S. found itself in the gold medal game with Australia. However, thanks to the team’s depth and talent, the USA won 74-63 for its third straight Olympic gold.
The story of the team was Leslie, who led everyone in scoring (15.6 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 rpg). It will be the standout’s third Olympics, and when the contest ended, he was the USA’s all-time leader in points, rebounds and blocked shots in the Olympics.
While Leslie didn’t play as big a role in 2008 in Beijing, he was still tremendous (10.1 ppg, 7.0 rpg). But Sylvia Fowles, Tina Thompson and Diana Taurasi led the way as the Americans put together their most dominant performance to date, outscoring their eight opponents by an average of 37.6 ppg for their fourth gold in their seven Olympics. Even the final against Australia was (again) uncompetitive, with the USA winning 92-65.
Leslie joined Edwards as the only athletes, male or female, to win four Olympic gold medals in basketball.
Larry’s fifth medal was won in London, and in the final game France secured the opponent. In what was becoming a ritual, the USA outscored its opponents by more than 30 points per game (34.4) and only one team scored 25 points. Bird and Taurasi teamed with Tamika Catchings as co-captains, and all three were key contributors. Taurasi led the team with 12.4 ppg, Bird dished out 4.5 ppg and Catchings was strong on the boards and on the defensive end. Maybe the world didn’t like it, but the US was rolling and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
That was certainly the case in Rio, when the USA surpassed the century mark with six of its eight victories. The final was a 101-72 loss to Spain, and the team averaged 37.2 ppg. The Taurasi-Catchings-Bird trio again provided the needed leadership, but the team was loaded with so many stars that it was hard to imagine anyone being needed on the outside. Any team member could have and fulfill that role.
The win showed the growing breadth of USA Basketball’s development capabilities. It’s possible that a team of 12 other American players could have won the gold if the team that tore up Rio had stayed home. The sport, which gained Olympic prominence only 40 years after the debut of the men’s version, has outshone its male counterpart in dominance. It came as a shock to some, although it shouldn’t have, the women’s professional game has been quite mature and widespread internationally for decades.
As the Paris Games unfold, it’s clear that USA Basketball has perfected the formula for success on the women’s field. The game matures every year at the prep, college and WNBA levels, providing an endless stream of talent for the national team. There’s no guarantee of gold in the upcoming Olympics or any other Olympics, but it’s hard to imagine another country with the resources and commitment to usurp the United States.
In other words, USA Women’s National Team fans should prepare for another celebration this summer.
SLAM PRESENTS USA BASKETBALL NOW AVAILABLE!
Photos via Getty Images.
